neat spider

molossermomMay 8, 2013

I took this picture after accidentaly disloging the spider from the center of an orange blossom. I've seen these guys a mostly in citrus flowers and once in a rose. seeing them at all is challenging because what they do is sit in the middle of a blossom amongst the stiemens and tuck their legs back and up so they look just like the center of the blossom. They go a step further by actually color matching. kid you not. In fact the spider in the picture had already started to change colors from a much brighter yellow. The one I saw in a blossom in my lemon tree was purple and cream and the one in my pink rose was a light pink and buttery yellow. Its one of the prettiest spiders Ive come across . If any one knows what it is i'd love to know more about it.

Good advice ,,,if it was brown recluse.fortunately it isnt'. Images of what brown recluses look like are easily found on the internet and so I was able to rule that out right away. Plus my pic is a very very close up pic making this little guy look bigger than he is. He's only the size of a pea.

Good advice ,,,if it was brown recluse.fortunately it isnt'. Images of what brown recluses look like are easily found on the internet and so I was able to rule that out right away. Plus my pic is a very very close up pic making this little guy look bigger than he is. He's only the size of a pea.

Hi, I realize this is an old thread, but I believe this is a whitebanded crab spider (Misumenoides formosipes). Their colors vary dramatically from specimen to specimen, but this is your girl. Its a great photo!
You will never find a recluse in the garden, especially not on a flower.
A chameleon spider is not actually a species, but the goldenrod crab spider is commonly referred to as a chameleon due to its ability to change color (which can take days/weeks depending on the color!) Hope that helps
Alexis